Late Nights With Trav And Los

Today I want to talk about trust. Trust is a super broad topic, so the focus for this episode, is about trust in the workplace. And to be even more specific. I want to talk about trust as it pertains to it being a soft-skill you must have and subsequently develop as a designer. This is something you can focus on building anywhere. You can build this skill at an in-house design team, a design agency, or as a freelance designer. I will talk you through how to develop and focus on this soft-skill. The key take-aways that will be synthesised for you will come from my own experiences, Travis’s insights, and some research I have done for you on the glorious internet. So Travis, what does trust look like when it’s done right? What does trust look like when it’s done wrong? What do you do to build trust in the workplace? or better yet, what have you done in the past and what are you actively doing now? The key-word here, is that building trust, is an active experience. Ok, awesome answers. If I can give you only one

Should I generalize or specialize in my career? Reagan Quote “I believe designers are all designers not just one type. An organization does this (narrow a designers scope) to help better define the individual and role but in reality a designer should understand many roles” I think it mostly comes down to personality. We have two things here. The first is who you are, as a person. What are your interests and skills. What do you have to offer and what makes you happy. Then the second thing is what the world needs. Or rather, what do the people that you know what have money need. It’s easier to hire a specialist at a big company. A small company can use a generalist more. To it really comes down to you, what can you do, and what do you want? I’ve got some specific talking points here that we can argue over. It’s Easier to Specialize Less to learn, remember, and keep up on. Doesn’t take as long to be useful in just one thing, generalizing takes time. Income generation Pro specialize Competitive field?

Reagan Kim is a talented and genuine person. Regan was Trav's mentor when he joined Google. He's worked at Fox Entertainment, Netflix, Google, and now Facebook. He walk us through his journey and we pull out the principles of his success.

Feb 24, 2016 #Developing Self-Confidence My wife asked me a couple of weeks ago. How can you be so confident all the time? You want to know my answer? I told her, I got it from my momma. For your sake, dear listener,let me expand that answer: I grew up in a home where my dad usually worked 2 jobs to provide for us, or worked at odd hours of the day where I didn’t see him much. And as such, I was around my mom most of the time, at least in my formative years. I gained a major portion of my confidence from her, she would say things like, I know I’m beautiful and of course people love me, can’t you see how awesome I am. Now this wasn’t said with a prideful tone. She would always have an underlying joker’s tone to it, always playful. In today’s episode I want to deliver a message around self-confidence and how true confidence can’t be faked, it is a by-product of two more important skills: unwavering self-awareness and a continuos fervor for learning #Self-awareness Q:What is it? The ability to be assess your ow

##Los meets a startup founder at a coffee shop and tells that story. ###Link to contest information here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BCZGEnHs_0H/?taken-by=travandlos ###Quick take aways: The Story Find something you are frustrated about Fix it

What I’d like to see a bit more of is people being concerned with their purpose and being true to that. As a follow-on asking the question “How can I appropriately tell that story with the intent of bringing others on board to this purpose.”

Cory Miller is a good human Cory Miller, Designer, Podcaster, Product Director @ SeanWes, Entrepreneur, Father, Husby, more. — We are going to get into all of that in a few minutes, but where did it all start? I want the origin story. Topics discussed: Design Shirts Product Director Podcast Branding

Los tackles part two of a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into New Rivers.

Los introduces a two-part series around brainstorming. In this episode we dive into Mind mapping.

Thank you everyone for making 2015 a great year for the show! Episodes mentioned in this show How We Really Create (travandlos.com/38) Set and Achieve Better Goals (travandlos.com/10) How I increased my creative output 150% by simply changing the way I sleep (Polyphasic Sleep) (travandlos.com/38) Burnout – What it is, how to avoid and overcome it (travandlos.com/22) Steal a collage education (travandlos.com/23) Expectational Debt (travandlos.com/52) The loss of thought (travandlos.com/37) Full-Process Designer (travandlos.com/26) Sometimes We Fail Hard (travandlos.com/44) Chase the Carrot (travandlos.com/11) Guests Jerrod Eroundu - (travandlos.com/42) Jonathan Cutrell - (travandlos.com/36) Travis McCleary - (travandlos.com/9)

Expectational Debt back from vacation trying to get ahead of the work expectations of others We are indebted by the expectations of our employers, community leaders, friends, family, and maybe most demanding of all; ourselves. How do we impose debt onto ourselves? incomplete projects other peoples requests emotional-based long term commitment Without completely being aware of it, we can sell the expectations of our time and energy pretty cheaply. debt can be positive, its how all relationships work Controlling Debt like finances, a lot of debt can be going to places without even knowing it make a list of your roles / responsibilities Identify bad debt Cal Newport calls it deep work and light work (Critical output / vs emails) The ability to focus is the new IQ Have strength to redouble your good commitments, and abandon your bad debt.

Los helps you think of yourself as a startup and you become the product.

Los tells Trav about the benefits of creativity. Also, our 50th Episode :) Thank you for listening and we are grateful to have you as a part of our Late Nights podcast ;) Enjoy this episode and tweet us if you want to chat, or facebook us!

How to Get Motivated What motivates you? Los says "Creative Freedom" but doesn't want to talk about it right now. It seems like a lot of my friends and followers are suffering simultaneously from the same ailment; lack of motivation. Indeed I, myself, have been fighting a healthy dose of resistance lately. I have one particular project that has dragged on for months and months and everyday the obstacles that stand between me and completion seem to be piling up. So this is the question I've been getting a lot lately: “How do you remain motivated enough to see a project through? I just seem to loose interest…” Not surprisingly, Calvin has our answer:   Make a deadline In my experience, there is nothing that provides more motivation, inspiration, and pressure to complete than a deadline. The more public, the more hardline, the more grave the consequence for failure — the better! Parkinson's law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” If you really want to ge

I prefer to reflection over celebration Benefits of Meditation or Reflection See clearly what leads to happiness, success, failure and stress relate new knowledge to prior understanding Helps you to think in both abstract and conceptual terms (loosens thinking, enable connections) apply specific strategies in novel tasks understand their own thinking and learning strategies Transforms your experience into genuine learning about individual values and goals and about larger social issues. Works against the perpetuation of stereotypes (unconscious bias) by raising your awareness of the social structures surrounding you. Increases the likelihood that you will remain committed to your goals beyond the short term. (reinforcing convictions) Reflective practice is a way of studying your own experiences to improve the way you work. It is very useful for people who want to carry on learning throughout their lives. The act of reflection is a great way to increase confidence and become a more proactive

Trav tells Los how much he liked a previous episode and uses it as an example in discussing new creative ideas he was recently exposed to.

I (los) try to get Travis involved in an on-air problem solving design exercise. It doesn't work, at all. We then go on a related tangent about ads and content creation.

Jared Erondu (of TeeSpring, Tree House, and The Industry) stops by to talk to us about getting his start, navigating a creative career, and always being true to yourself.

Los talks about how to write the perfect task to get ideas progressing forward.

#Jeffersonian Dinners ##Intro I want to talk about what a Jeffersonian Dinner is. ###Q:Have you heard of this? Context: Imagine being invited to a dinner in 1819 at Monticello, at the elegant Virginia home of Thomas Jefferson — president, scientist, farmer, connoisseur, scholar, and author of the Declaration of Independence. Around his table, you’d encounter some of the leading sprits of the age — men and women steeped in politics, literature, the arts, the sciences, theology, history, mores, and manners — people that Mr. Jefferson invited because he found them, intriguing and delightful to spend a stimulating evening with. An evening like this was also a prime source of education both for Mr. Jefferson himself and for the guests around the table, all of whom were engaged citizens, eager to share and debate the varied ideas that would shape the fortunes and spur the development of their rapidly-growing young nation. This was the original Jeffersonian Dinner and these dinner’s have been had by many people ever